The Education of Bella Swan
by Dark-n-Twisty
Summary: If she had it her way, Jacob would've imprinted on her that first day in the sandbox. But life has every intention of demonstrating just how uncooperative the human heart can be. Because even amidst the supernatural, a rational heart is pure fiction. AU


**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing.

**AN:** This is my first foray into the Twilight universe, so please be gentle with me. There's a lot about this fic that didn't fit into the summary or the category selections, but I hope you all will give it a chance either way. And just in case it wasn't clear, while the story is AU, there will be plenty of vamps and werewolves running a muck to keep you die-hard twihearts happy, but this is first and foremost a story about Bella and all the oc-ness this new world I've placed her in brings out in her character. This fic was my response to two questions I've been dying to address in this verse for quite some time now.

1. If Edward weren't they first boy to touch Bella's heart, would his hold on her be as potent?

2. With a different family dynamic, is forever so easy to promise?

And yes these questions have been answered in the AU arena, but this is where the roots of this story lie. If neither of these questions interests you in anyway, then I'm not sure this story's for you. I hope you'll give it a chance either way.

**Summary: **All Bella ever wanted was to belong to her best friend, Jacob Black: to be his perfect match, his soul mate, his imprint, simply _his_. But she's not. And with a little help from her mother's memoirs, she'll come to realize that maybe it's not such a bad thing, that maybe the greatest love is the one you don't plan for. AU

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**The Education of Bella Swan**

**Chapter 1**

_Hideaway_

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_Looking back, it was purely chance that led her to it. A week later or even three steps to the left and she probably never would have realized there was anything to miss. And sometimes she wondered what her life would have been like, if she'd never found her mother's soul gathering dust amidst the boxes. _

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The room she'd stumbled into truthfully wasn't a room at all but another entity unto itself. Too large to be a closet and yet too small to be a bedroom, it simply – was.

Boxes, varying in shape and size, lined the walls of this tomb secreted away beneath the stairs. For that's what it was, a tomb, a resting place for every piece of Renee that had been left behind within the Swan household. Every picture, every book, every knick-knack and scrap of clothing she had every owned or touched had been tucked deep into the center of their home, tucked neatly inside of this hideaway at the request of her heartbroken father nearly seven years ago. And though she'd never known of this place until today – Bella swore some part of her had been aware of these pieces of her mother hiding beneath the stairs, her very own tell-tale-heart beating away beneath the floorboards, only she'd been deaf to the sound.

Now thirteen, Bella could recall perfectly the emptiness she'd felt at the age of six coming home after the funeral to find every trace of Renee gone, disappeared as if by some kind of cruel magic, and how much the devastated little girl she'd been could have used the comfort these boxes would undoubtedly bring her now.

Bella wished for nothing more then the sweet release lashing out would bring her, could feel the familiar rush of blood flooding onto her cheeks, now in anger rather than embarrassment, as she clinched her jaw and dug her fingernails deep into the palms of her hands. But then she remembered her dad, and what a mess he'd been before, and how often he'd cried out for her mother in his sleep when he thought Bella tucked away in bed. How, when he'd started dating Sue Clearwater two years ago, he'd vehemently shot down her idea to spruce up the kitchen, or re-arrange the furniture, or pretty much anything that required him to change the way their house had been since Renee passed. Even with her things stowed away, the house was full of her mother.

And Sue, with all the patience and wisdom of a saint, understood the importance of these things, understood because she too had lost her other half when her husband passed. It was the thing Bella had come to love most about her stepmother, that she respected Renee's memory in a way no other woman could. So really, she shouldn't have been surprised when Sue came to stand beside her and Charlie, placing a steadying hand on their shoulders. "You know, I've been meaning to get the shed back at the house water proofed. Till then we'll make room for Renee's things in the living room."

And for the first time since they'd started this complicated dance between family yet not, Bella allowed herself to lean against Sue, because all she could hear was her stepmother promising, "_We'll make room for Renee_."

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**AN**: Sappy, I know but let me know what you think either way. Also, chapters from this point on won't be nearly as short…unless of course 'sh*t happens.' lol. It's brief, I know, but I'm just dipping my toe into this fandom, trying to gauge the response to see if my musings are even worth pursuing.


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